Improvement in lubricating apparatus for cylinders of condensing steam-engines



2 Sheets--Sheet1. V

WILLIAQM FLETCHER. improvement in Lubricating Apparatus. No. 120 635. g Patented Nov-7,1871.

2 Sheets--Sheet2. WlLli'IAM FLETCHER.

Improvement in Lub ricating Apparatus N0. 120,635. Z" .Patented Nov-7,1871.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM FLETCHER,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 120,635, dated November 7, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FLETCHER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lubricating Apparatus for Lubricating the Cylinders of Condensing Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of the apparatus for lubricating; and Fig. 2, a like view of the apparatus for lubricating connected with a means for melting the lubricating material.

The apparatus as heretofore and now generally employed for lubricating the cylinders of steamengines consists of a cup to contain the liquid lubricating matter which is connected by a pipe and stop-cock with the inside of the cylinder, so that the engineer, by turning the handle of the stop-cock, can at any time permit any desired quantity of lubricating matter to run into the cylinder; but as this is required to be done by the engineer, the duty is often neglected or imperfectly attended to, and always involves great waste of the lubricating material.

The object of my said invention is to render the lubricator automatic and also adjustable, so that when set the required quantity of lubricating matter will be introduced into the cylinder at each stroke of the piston, and the quantity so introduced at each stroke of the piston can be adjusted to the exact quantity required; and my said invention also consists in combining, with the means for automatically supplying the cylinder with lubricating matter, a means by which the steam acts automatically on the fat or other material to be used as a lubricator, and keep it in a fluid state while the engine is in action.

In Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings, (t represents the cup, and b the stop-cock and pipe usually employed for lubricating the cylinders of steam-engines, the pipe of the stop-cock being secured to the cylinder by the screw 0. A short tube, 01, is secured to the upper end of the bore of the stop-cock pipe, and at the upper end it is curved, as at e, to communicate with another tube, f, the upper end of which is closed with a cap, 9, and the lower end open and formed with a valveseat for a poppet-valve h, opening inward. Above the valve there is a screw, 6, tapped into the cap g, and provided with a binding-nut, j. By means of this screw the extent of the play of the valve can be adjusted and set as may be desired.

When the stop-cock 1s open the cylinder of the engine is only prevented from being in direct communication with the lubricating matter in the cup by reason of the interposition of the valve h, so that when the steam in the cylinder is condensed the valve is lifted and lubricating matter carried intothe cylinder, the quantity being determined by the set of the regulating-screw. In this way at every stroke of the piston the required quantity of lubricating matter is automatically carried into the cylinder. The stop-cock may be omitted, if desired.

When the foregoing invention is to be used with lubricating matter which requires to be maintained in a limpid state by a high degree of heat, I construct the apparatus as represented in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, in which the parts already described are represented as in Fig. 1, and indicated by similar letters. But the cup a, instead of being open, is covered with a steam-tight cap, it, and the tube d communicates with the lower end of another valve-tube, Z, provided with a poppet-valve, m, so that when steam is admitted to the cylinder of the engine the steam will pass up into the tube d; thence under the valve m, and thence through a lateral port, 12, near the cap of the cup a, to act on the fat or other lubricating matter; and when the steam in the cylinder is condensed the valve on is closed by the pressure above it, which may, if desired, be assisted by a spring, 0.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The lifting-puppet or equivalent valve in a valve-tube open at the lower end, in combination with the oil-cup and with the tube or passage, the open end of which opens into that part of the valve-tube which is above the valve, and the other end communicates with the cylinder of the engine when the apparatus is attached thereto, substantially as specified, by means of which combination, when a vacuum is induced in the cylinder, the valve-tube above the valve is exhausted and the valve lifted by atmospheric pressure, and the lubricating matter forced from the cup into the cylinder of the engine.

2. The set-screw for adjusting the throw of the valve, in combination with the cup, the lift-valve,

nectsjj'the r p r r ei fijo'f th va1ye=tube with the cylinder when attached thereto, and the tube with its valve for the passage of steam from the 'oylinder to the cup, the combination having a mode of operation, substantially as described. WILLIAM FLETCHER.

Witnesses: r

WM; t E sner; ,r JOSEPH G. HARRISON. (87) 

